Collapsible, Biodegradable Coke Bottle Proves it’s Hip to Be Square

Designer Andrew Kim has created a new Eco Coke concept bottle that minimizes the packaging’s environmental footprint while maximizing its efficiency. The square bottles are more collapsible, fit tightly with other bottles for efficient shipping and stocking, and are made from sugar based bioplastic.

Kim claims that the new design has the potential to eliminate the carbon footprint of shipping 320 million bottles a year. The collapsible design would also, perhaps, make it more conducive to recycling. Any measures to help the feeble 27% recycling rate for plastic bottles would be greatly appreciated by our landfills and oceans.

Coke may not be made with sustainably farmed corn yet, but if they pick up this new design they would certainly be turning some heads, doing some good, and saving some serious shipping costs.

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10 Comments

ramravikaurNovember 24, 2011 at 2:17 pm

It is always great to be innovating new ideas that can be formulated towards reducung the impact of our hyper consumptive ways.One first step towards bringing self awareness to the greater population can be a super catalyst for change through
awareness. The idea is a worthy one in concept and with a colaborative involvement and a few tweeks could solve a few existing waste problems

wonkDecember 21, 2010 at 12:41 pm

so use actual sugar to manufacturer the packaging but leave the cheap, GMO, high fructose corn syrup in the drink inside. hilarious. Without even getting into the fact of how evil soft drink companies, particularly coke are, on an environment and social level – how about the fact that bioplastics need to be composted (they need heat – ref. Poly Lactic Acid) and they will not photodegrade in any decent period of time. most people that drink soda, I can bet, do not compost. In addition – noone, as far as i know, as made a biodegradable/compostable CAP – so while the bottle is (maybe) compostable the cap is still plastic. so it would need to be separated to recycle and compost. Easier solution: stop drinking soda.

rakstMay 3, 2010 at 12:44 pm

This is completely preposterous. There is no way that this could happen. The bottles would be bursting at the seems on the bottom. This is a great start, don’t get me wrong but this would never work. Although it would be nice because the design is awesome.

greengoApril 14, 2010 at 4:51 pm

while others make good points, it is still good to see massive companies making an attempt at change. people aren’t going to stop drinking soda anytime soon so you gotta start somewhere! if they work, they’re definitely appealing to the eye

Eric HuntingApril 8, 2010 at 8:32 pm

This reminds me of the Heineken Wobo Bottle devised in the 1960s. Dismayed at the plight of the inhabitants of a Dutch African colony he visited, Alfred Heineken devised a brick-shaped beer bottle with the intent that the bottles could be recycled for making houses. You can read about this novel bit of early eco-tech history here;

Perhaps this design was also considering the potential for re-use given such recent projects as the Plastiki (the sailing ship made of plastic bottles) and the many forms of DIY planters made from soda bottles. Could one devise a snap connector for these bottles that could let them be stacked into walls or structures without the need for tools?

Trey FarmerApril 8, 2010 at 7:44 pm

Like most concept design, this is just to provoke conversation and try something new. Plastic bottles and bags are incredibly unnecessary, pollute on an unimaginable scale, and very little is being done to address or even consider the issue.
Bio-compostables would at least alleviate the stress on our oceans. Why not consider new, novel types of packaging. People are going to drink this nasty stuff regardless, so it’d be nice if Coke would entertain some new ideas and act a little more responsibly (although I did see a hybrid coca-cola truck early this week, but it was still delivering coca-cola).
A little shout out for my neighbor across the Bay, Annie Leonard: http://storyofstuff.org/bottledwater.php

Bob B.April 8, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Look in any grocery store and you will find many square bottles, glass and plastic, for non-pressurized liquids.

Round soda bottles are made of thin plastic and use the minimum necessary. A square bottle would require much thicker and stronger plastic. Even if using twice the amount of plastic per bottle, these bottles would still bulge out considerably.

The pictures obviously are faked, showing either empty bottles or square bottles filled with unpressurized liquid.

Plastic bottles are far more efficient than this proposed eye-candy square design because cylinders hold pressure better than prisms. Simple as that, yet so easily ignored in this design. Very disappointing that this made it onto inhabitat without scrutiny.

ChristianAceApril 7, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Dislike.

I do not feel that ‘greener’ soda bottles are in any way shape or form sustainable. The ‘side effects’ of the complete process to make and deliver soda is horrible and I do not give Coke or Pepsi or any even a pat on the back for this horrible marketing ploy, and you are furthering it. This is not green, this is marketing at its finest. “This product is good, thirst quenching and now green.” All I hear this “This product will make you sick, fat, and lays waste to our environment.

I have been soda-sober for over 3 years and would never go back. Also, I really hope they jack up the soda tax to make some sort of difference, but people need to realize that soda, especially that made with highfructose corn syrup ruins metabolism and we wonder(KNOW) why our country is so obese.